St Albans City and District Council (SACDC) has earmarked £16.7m towards a new leisure centre in its corporate plan and budget for 2011-16. The funding will go towards the development of the new Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, work on which is already underway ahead of a scheduled completion date in 2012. Cabinet members also approved investment for a new leisure facility at Cotlandswick, London Colney, as part of 'priority' plans

A historic Grade II-listed manor house in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, is to be converted into a 95-bedroom luxury golf hotel after the scheme was approved. Humberts Leisure is behind the planned refurbishment of Broxbournebury Manor, which is set to serve Hertfordshire Golf and Country Club. A report conducted by Humberts' consulting team found that there was "strong corporate" demand for the hotel, with the country club providing the preferred option. Former

Stroud District Council (SDC) has announced that it is looking into the possibility of using food waste to power Stratford Park Leisure Centre, Gloucestershire. Following the council's cabinet meeting in January, proposals are being drawn up for a new anaerobic digester facility to convert household and commercial food waste into energy. One of the potential locations for the installation is at the rear of the leisure complex, which has an

Houston Dynamo has been given the green light to proceed with the development of a new 22,000-seat 'soccer-specific' stadium in downtown Houston, Texas, US. In addition to hosting the club's Major League Soccer home games, the proposed venue is to be used for Texas Southern University football, concerts and boxing events. Due to open in 2012, the Populous-designed stadium will become one of the first 'soccer-specific' Major League Soccer venues

An international competition for the design of a new science centre in Serbia has been won by a team from ZT GmbH Architekten of Graz, Austria, led by Wolfgang Tschapeller. The competition was launched by the Serbian Ministry of Science and Technology and organised by the Union of Architects of Serbia together with the Association of Belgrade Architects. The brief concerned the design of the centre - a complex including

A major new art gallery currently being developed in Wakefield - The Hepworth Wakefield - is scheduled to open its doors to the public on 21 May. Wakefield Council said the launch of the David Chipperfield Architects-designed waterfront attraction would provide a milestone in the regeneration of the area. Laing O'Rourke is building the new gallery, which will feature an auditorium, learning areas and a garden alongside displays of historic

M Shed, a new £26.5m flagship museum located in Bristol, is to open its doors to the public on 17 June - two years later than initially planned. The museum was handed over to Bristol City Council in August 2010 and staff are now due to start work on the installation of thousands of objects and artefacts. A 1950s transit shed have been transformed into the M Shed attraction, which

Efforts to transform Halifax's Piece Hall have moved forward after three companies were appointed by Calderdale Council to work on the scheme. LDN Architects has been selected to draw up plans for the new-look property, while L&R Consulting will act as business planners to ensure the site's sustainable future. Wafer Hadley has been appointed by the local authority to lead the heritage interpretation and activity planning at Piece Hall, and

Original cast iron material salvaged from Brighton's historic West Pier are to be sold off as part of preparations for a new attraction planned for the site. The West Pier Trust has confirmed that, while many of the parts stored in its compound are needed for the heritage element of the i360 project, a "limited amount" will not be required. In a statement, a trust spokesperson said: "We are hoping

Emaar Hospitality Group (EHG) has opened a restaurant on the 122nd floor of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE. Marketed as the "highest restaurant in the world", the At.mosphere has been designed by South African Adam Tihany and diners access the restaurant using a private lift. Although EHG has not revealed the exact height of the location of the 122nd floor, marketing material states that it is

Great Hotels of the World (GHOTW) has confirmed the opening of the EUR20m (£17.2m, US$27.5m) Dom Pedro Laguna Beach Villas, Golf and Spa Resort in Brazil. Located on the Aquiraz Riviera, the 102-bedroom resort includes the Spa Aquae - offering a whirlpool; an indoor swimming pool; cv fitness facilities; and five treatment rooms. Chromo-therapy - the use of different colours as an alternative cure for diseases - features as part

Steiner Leisure is to be the exclusive operator of a new spa facility that is set to open at the refurbished Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Nevada, US. The operator has secured a 10-year agreement from the opening date of the facility, with an option to renew the deal for two five-year periods. Located on the Las Vegas Strip, the Tropicana is currently undergoing a major US180m (£112.8m)

Work has now started on a new £18.5m visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway World Heritage Site in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Dublin-based architects heneghan.peng are behind the design of the facility, which has received £3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £4m from the National Trust (NT). Gilbert-Ash has been chosen to lead the project, which also involves McConnell Stone; Metaltech; Mastercraft; Vaughan's; and Hynd's Architectural Systems. Event Communications

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels has revealed plans for encasing a large waste treatment plant with an artificial ski slope and creating a leisure destination in Copenhagen, Denmark. Ingels' practice, Bjarke Ingles Group (BIG), has been appointed to replace a 40-year-old waste treatment plant with a new one, and the 36-year-old architect has announced his desire to use the opportunity to rejuvenate the industrial quarter and to turn it into a

The independently-owned Mere Golf and Country Club near Knutsford in Cheshire has launched a £4m day spa as part of a £15m rebrand. The club will be rebranded as simply The Mere and will be marketed as Cheshire's first five-star golf and spa resort. The Spa at The Mere will boast seven treatment rooms, a large indoor pool, hammam, rasul, a hydrotherapy area, an aroma steamroom, a caldarium and a

The opening of the new £72m, 3xN-designed Museum of Liverpool - scheduled for the spring of this year - has been delayed until July. The museum - which has received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Northwest Regional Development Agency, Merseyside Objective One and the Garfield Weston Foundation - will examine the history of Liverpool and its people under four core themes: Port City, Global City, People's City and

Westminster City Council (WCC) has approved plans for a temporary 15,000-seat arena on Horse Guards Parade, which will host London 2012 beach volleyball events. Two warm-up courts and six practice courts will be created as part of the 21m (68.9ft)-high venue, which will also feature four 30m (98.4ft)-high floodlights. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games has also been given the green light to start road

A planning application for a new £8.5m competition-standard swimming pool in Blackbird Leys, Oxford, have been submitted to the local authority. Facilities at the FaulknerBrowns Architects-designed venue will include an eight-lane, 25m pool with moveable floor; a teaching pool; and 'fun water' with jets and sprays. Oxford City Council is aiming to create a venue able to provide casual swimming facilities, while fulfilling the city's needs for a competition-standard pool.

The 200-year old Lune Aqueduct on the Lancaster Canal is set for a £2m refurbishment. The structure has been awarded a £1m Heritage Lottery Fund grant, with £1.25m of match funding coming from British Waterways. Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council and Lancaster Canal Trust are also contributing. The project will include repairing the canal and aqueduct channel, removing vegetation and graffiti, undertaking re-pointing and masonry repairs and improving access

Crystal Palace Football Club (CPFC) has announced plans to transform the National Sports Centre (NSC) as part of a new stadium development at Crystal Palace Park, London. The npower Championship club - in partnership with CB Richard Ellis and AFL Architects - is proposing to move back to its original home with a new 40,000-seat venue. A new indoor aquatic centre; a reconfigured indoor complex for the NSC; and a

URBN Hotels & Resorts has announced plans to open a boutique hotel which will marketed as 'China greenest'. The 20,000sq m boutique hotel is scheduled to open in 2012 and will be part of a larger 200,000sq m mixed-use development in the Sanlin district of Pudong in Shanghai, China. The RMB312m (£30m, US$47m, EUR35m) hotel will include 55 hotel rooms, 50 serviced residences and 4,500sq m of leisure space -

De Montfort University (DMU) has been given the green light to proceed with plans for a multi-million pound leisure centre development in Leicester. Leicester City Council granted planning permission for the scheme on 18 January, having already agreed to sell land off Duns Lane to the institution in August 2009. The S&P Architects-designed complex will feature a 25m, six-lane swimming pool; a gym and studio; an eight-court sports hall; and

Museum@WRI - a new permanent exhibition exploring the history of medicine - is to be created in one of the Worcester Royal Infirmary's former wards. An extensive collection of medical equipment, documents and uniform are to go on display as part of the exhibition, which is being developed by the University of Worcester (UW). UW is working with the city's George Marshall Medicine Museum on the scheme, which has been

Work has been completed on a new £12m purpose-built venue in Leeds, which will provide a new home for Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre. Wates Construction built the new six-storey building, which has been designed by Strategic Design Alliance - a partnership between Leeds City Council and Jacobs Architecture. Housing one of the largest dance rehearsal spaces outside London, the venue features seven dance studios - including a 230-seat

US-based exhibition design company Thinkwell has been appointed to design the Harry Potter visitor attraction at Leavesden Studios, UK. Although exact details of the attraction are to be revealed, Thinkwell said the site will give the general public the ability to tour several of the original Harry Potter film sets. The studios, near Watford, Hertforshire, were acquired by Warner Bros in November last year (2010). Shortly after, the US-based film

Transport operator First Group is to provide £100,000 towards the cost of Aberdeen's new aquatic centre. A 50m swimming pool will be at the centre of the FaulknerBrowns Architects-designed development, which will form the second phase of Aberdeen Sports Village. Aberdeen City Council approved the development in October, which will see the former Linksfield Academy demolished to make way for the new aquatic centre. Facilities will also include a 25m

Scottish Enterprise has announced that a £30m floating leisure village is to be developed in Glasgow in a bid to transform the former Canting Basin. Manchester-based Floating Concepts's plans - designed by ZM Architecture and water-based architects Baca - were selected following a tender process. It is hoped that work will commence in the second quarter of 2012 and would take up to three years to complete, with the complex